Problems without Solutions
by Loketoki
Summary: He thought this would be easy. He couldn't have been more wrong. 3318
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Problems without Solutions

**Pairing: **RyoheixHibari

**Disclaimer:** Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Hibari, Ryohei, Hibird, Kusakabe, Kyoko and anyone else in this story © Akira Amano

**Notes: **Not that much to say, really, apart from thank you everyone for faving and reviewing my stories. I'm really glad that so many people are enjoying them. This is probably my first chance talking to everyone, so I just wanted to thank everyone. I hope you all enjoy this story and I'm sorry if Hibari and Ryohei are out of character/I make anyone really depressed with this.

**Problems without Solutions**

In the end, it didn't matter.

He knew what he'd done the moment he closed the door.

This wasn't where he wanted to be.

It had to be done.

It wasn't as if anyone got hurt.

_Except one…_

He forced that thought to a halt, not wanting to consider how his actions affected the other. He couldn't, not if he didn't want to regret what he had done.

_I had to do it. It was better for the both of us._

Closing his eyes, he let his head sink into his hands, lips pursed together in a vain attempt to be silent. Why was this so hard? Surely, he shouldn't be feeling this awful.

_If I'm feeling like this, then it must be so much worse for him._

How many days had it been now? Three? Four? Then why wasn't the pain getting any better? Everything just hurt now. Even things that weren't related to him created a horrible ache in his chest. At one point, he had actually considered not going to school.

If he was a herbivore, he would have gotten help days ago.

A light fluttering noise reached his ears as the little yellow bird landed in front of the sitting prefect. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the small mass of feathers.

"Hibari! Hibari!" It chirped, looking up at it's master. In reply, Hibari extended a hand towards the bird, allowing it to hop up onto his finger. Drawing his hand back, Hibari began stroking the top of Hibird's head, absentmindedly listening to the chirping. He usually enjoyed listening to the little bird's music, but now he just found it an uncomfortable distraction.

_We both liked the music…_

"Hibari!" The little voice next to his ear told the prefect that, while he had been thinking, Hibird had flown up onto his shoulder. Turning his head a little, his tired blue eyes landed on the small figure. "Happy?"

Just seeing the little, innocent bird tweet that small, insignificant, stupid stupid stupid word made Hibari's heart clench painfully in his chest. It wasn't Hibird's fault. It wasn't even the word's fault that the prefect was feeling that lump in his throat and his eyes watering again.

"… No, not happy…" Hibari whispered, his voice cracked as he put his head into his hands again, biting his lip as tears flowed down his cheeks.

It wasn't his fault. It was that stupid boxer.

Turning his head towards the window, Kusakabe watched Hibari gaze outside in silence. To anyone else, the head prefect would be acting normal. It wasn't unnatural to find him staring out of a window for hours on end. However, only Kusakabe could tell that Hibari was just looking and not really seeing anything. He had been like this for a week now, just silent and unresponsive. He still performed his prefect duties exactly as before, which Kusakabe was relieved to hear. However, and it was this thought that worried him the most, Hibari acted the same way for form's sake only. He did all the paperwork that he needed to do, he beat up any delinquents that needed disciplining, he slept on the roof, he patrolled the school and he looked out of windows all because he thought he had to. To the others, nothing was wrong, but to Kusakabe, he could see that all Hibari wanted to do was forget about his duties and just break down.

Kusakabe hoped he was wrong. But he knew that, deep down, he was dead right.

"… Kyo-san?" He finally spoke out, watching Hibari carefully. He didn't reply, just continued to 'look' out of the window. Kusakabe took this as a cue to continue. "Is everything alright? You don't seem yourself."

Hibari remained silent, showing no sign of actually hearing what Kusakabe said. The only sounds were the bustle of students going to their lessons. He sighed a little, dragging his eyes away from Hibari to a corner of the room, trying to think of a way to break the prefect out of his trance.

"… Is it him?"

That provoked a reaction. Hibari jerked away from the window, as if he had just been stabbed, turning his head to look at Kusakabe. He kept his eyes to the corner of the room. He didn't know what expression Hibari had on his face, and he didn't want to know.

"Kyo-san…" Kusakabe sighed. "I know it's hard, but you need to stop this. What happened happened and you can't do anything about it."

Hibari had turned back to the window, ignoring what Kusakabe was saying. That was something he did now, just block whatever someone was saying until they stopped, realising it was futile. But Kusakabe needed to tell him this, whether he liked it or not.

"I know this won't interfere with your duties, but you haven't been acting like your usual self. People are going to start worrying about you. If it's really bothering you, Kyo-san, maybe you should talk to him-"

"No." Kusakabe looked up at the sound, surprised that he actually got a response. "I'm not going to talk to him."

"But Kyo-san-"

"Enough." Hibari snapped, his head whipping around to glare at Kusakabe. That look always told the second-in-command to be quiet.

Usually, it was the intense ferocity the steel grey eyes held that silenced him.

Now it was just overwhelming sorrow.

Nothing more.

It must have been the fifth of sixth time that week that she heard the front door slam open, close quietly and footsteps heading straight upstairs. Sighing to herself, the woman contemplated whether or not to follow the source of the noise. Setting down the cloth in head hands, she slowly walked upstairs towards her son's room.

"Kyoya?" She called out. The sound of movement behind the door ceased at the mother's voice. She waited for a reply. None came.

"Kyoya? Is everything alright? Your father and I are getting worried." She continued. Resting a hand on the door handle, she tugged it to try and get inside the room. It was locked.

"Kyoya, open the door. Whatever it is, we can help you." His mother continued, knocking gently on the door. A hand touched the woman's shoulder, making her turn around. Her husband shook his head, guiding the woman away.

Even with the father's voice talking to her, the mother could still hear the stifled cries of their son.

"_Let's break up."_

"… _What?"_

"_It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to finish this."_

"_B-But… why?"_

"_Don't make this any harder than it already is…"_

"_Is it me? Is it something I've done?"_

"_No, just listen-"_

"_No! I'm not going to listen! Why do you want to break up? Is there someone else?"_

"_Of course not. You know I wouldn't have."_

"_But… I don't want you to leave… I lo-"_

"_Don't say that."_

"_But it's true! I love-"_

"_Shut up!"_

"_No! That's how I feel about you! That's why I don't want to break up!"_

"_Well, I do! I don't want to be with you anymore!"_

"_But, Hibari…"_

"_I've had enough. I'm leaving."_

"Sasagawa-senpai!"

The student reached out, grabbing Ryohei's shoulder and giving it a little shake, jolting the boxer from his daze.

"Eh? Oh, yeah?" Ryohei asked, facing him.

""Well, it's probably nothing, Sasagawa-senpai, but everyone from the boxing club was wondering… Are you okay?" The student asked, rubbing the back of his beck nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm extremely okay!" Ryohei said, grinning at his fellow boxing club member.

"A-Alright then, Sasagawa-senpai! Sorry to have disturbed you!" The student waved and ran off back to his friends, assuring them that their Senpai was alright.

They didn't see the smile leave his face. Or hear the heavy sigh that followed.

Looking up at her older brother, Kyoko couldn't help but feel her stomach twist in worry. This had been going on for about two weeks and she thought that; maybe, things would start to get better. Ryohei had told Kyoko what had happened, how Hibari had dumped him for seemingly no reason. She had tried her best to comfort her older brother, but there was only so much she could do.

"… Onii-chan?" Kyoko finally spoke up, disrupting the boxer from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Ryohei looked down at Kyoko. "Yeah, Kyoko?"

"You were spacing out again, Onii-chan." She said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Oh, was I? Heh, sorry, to the extreme." Ryohei apologised, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just thinking…"

"About Hibari-san again?" Kyoko asked, even though she already knew the answer to her question. Her brother was always thinking these days, and it was always the same person.

"Y-Yeah…" Ryohei nodded, the slight smile dropping off his face.

Kyoko nodded too. Even though she didn't know from experience, she knew how hard this was for her brother. She had seen the usual heartbreak on television shows, but she could tell that Ryohei was taking this badly. He was trying his best to pretend that things were normal. He kept up his training and still proclaimed things were 'extreme'. He still talked to Tsuna and everyone and still kept up the image of his usual self. But, every now and then, Kyoko would see Ryohei just sit at his desk and not move, as if he was deep in thought, or he would see something and this _look_ would wash over his face, like he was in an indescribable kind of pain and there was nothing he could do about it. Sometimes at home, he would look at the work school had given his for that day and would sigh heavily. Kyoko knew that, occasionally, Hibari would help her brother with his homework, either showing him how to solve a certain problem or just reading over his shoulder. Now, he just didn't do any work.

However, none of these things could add up to make the same amount of grief Ryohei felt than when he saw the prefect himself. Occasionally, the two would spot each other in the corridor, or during class, and Kyoko knew that her brother wanted nothing more than to go up and talk to him. But he keeps quiet. For who's sake, she doesn't know.

"Onii-chan, I think you should talk to Hibari-san." Kyoko said, looking at her brother carefully, her heart giving a painful tug when she saw Ryohei wince at the name. "I know it might be hard, but you should try to settle things with him."

"Yeah, I know… It's just extremely confusing." Ryohei sighed, securing his schoolbag on his shoulder. "It's just weird… Why did he leave me?"

"I don't know, onii-chan. You should ask him." Kyoko said gently, smiling a little in reassurance.

"… Yeah, I should. Thanks, Kyoko." Ryohei grinned at his little sister, this one looking slightly more genuine than the other smiles he had faked before. "I'll talk to him later. After school, to the extreme."

It had seemed easier when he was talking to Kyoko, but now that he was standing outside of the reception room, raised fist a few inches away from the door, Ryohei remembered just how hard it was. It was almost unbearable to even look at the prefect, let alone talk to him. Ever since that day, two weeks ago, they couldn't even be in the same room as each other before on left, leaving the other feeling terrible. But, he had told Kyoko that he would talk to Hibari, so that would be what he would do, no matter how extremely hard it was. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself from the flood of emotions that was sure to come, Ryohei knocked on the door, listening to the deafening silence that followed. He was sure that Hibari was in the reception room. Ryohei had already glanced around the roof for a fraction of a second before he quickly sprinted away. He hadn't spotted Hibari in the corridors as he looked around, so the only place he could be was here.

Ryohei waited for a few more minutes before knocking again.

"Hibari? Are you in there?" He called out, watching the door. He heard a quiet intake of breath before there was silence again. Ryohei bit his lip, knowing who that person was. "Hibari? I want to talk to you."

There was a slight noise that sounded like footsteps walking away from the door. Ryohei frowned at this. If that person was Hibari and he was moving away, that could have meant that he was about to open the door. Clenching his fists, he knocked on the door again, this time louder.

"Hibari, I know you're extremely in there! Let me in!" He yelled through the door, grabbing the handle to try and pull it open. As he guessed, it was locked. "Please, Hibari! Open the door!"

"No." A quiet voice came from inside the room, a voice that Ryohei had missed dearly. "Go away."

"I can't do that, Hibari. I told Kyoko that I'd talk to you." Ryohei said, one of his hands pressed against the door that separated them, as if trying to get closer to the little body.

There was silence in the room again, and Ryohei sighed, wishing desperately that the door wasn't in the way so he could grab hold of the prefect and never let go.

So when he heard the lock click and the door slowly slide open a little, he was more than just slightly shocked.

Peering through the door at the boxer standing outside, Hibari finally appeared in front of Ryohei, after two weeks of awkward atmospheres and heartbroken feelings. They hadn't been this close to each other in what felt like forever. Just the sight of his little skylark was enough to pull mournfully at his heartstrings.

_No… Not mine. Not anymore…_ He thought, becoming overwhelmed with sorrow.

From the little he could see, Ryohei could tell Hibari was far worse off than he was. It was just little things, like his hair being slightly messier than usual, and the dulled annoyance in his eyes that added together to make a person who was spiralling downwards.

At that moment, Ryohei wanted nothing more than to pull him into and embrace and keep him there.

"What do you want?" The cold, slightly hoarse voice broke the boxer from his thoughts, dragging his eyes up to look into the skylark's.

"I…" Words escaped Ryohei, the reason why he was even trying to talk to Hibari leaving him instantly.

After a minute of standing around awkwardly, the prefect moved to close the door.

"Wait." Ryohei stuck a foot in between the door and the frame, grabbing it with his hand and pushing it open, taking a step into the room. He was going to extremely sort this out, one way or another.

Hibari took a few steps back from Ryohei when he saw him enter the room, hands quickly slipping inside his jacket to brush along the cold steel of his tonfas.

"Stay there." He told Ryohei, knowing very well that the boxer would have continued walking towards him until they were touching.

Ryohei stopped, respecting Hibari's demand for distance. Now able to see the whole body of the prefect, he couldn't help but feel worry lace in his stomach as he noticed how much thinner he seemed.

"Hibari… I just want to know why…" He said quietly, watching him avert his eyes to a corner of the dimly lit room. Had Hibari been sitting in this darkness all day?

"I told you why. I don't want to be with you anymore." Was the muttered reply he got.

"We both know that isn't extremely true." Ryohei told him, the urge to hug the skylark growing stronger.

"That was the reason I gave you. If you don't like it, tough." Hibari snapped, frowning at a wall.

"Hibari… Please, I'll leave you alone if you just tell me. I need to know." Ryohei knew he was starting to act desperate, but he couldn't help it. This had gone on for far too long for any sort of rational thought to have a say.

"I told you my reason. We've talked. Leave." Hibari muttered, turning away from Ryohei, his back facing the boxer.

He couldn't help it then. The urge overpowered him, forcing him to take the couple of strides needed to close the gap between the two. Hibari had turned around a little when he heard the footsteps getting louder, before his senses were invaded by Ryohei. The boxer wrapped his arms around the body he had missed so much, breathing in the prefect's scent as he embraced him.

_Hug me back…_

"I… I'm sorry, Hibari… I can't help it." Ryohei muttered to the still person in his arms. "Even if you tell me to leave, I can't…"

"R… Ryohei…" The prefect whispered, and Ryohei couldn't help but notice the very slight tremble in his voice. It only made his arms around Hibari tighten.

"What's the matter, Hibari?" Ryohei asked quietly, whispering in his ear. He felt the prefect shake his head more than he saw it.

"Don't…" He heard Hibari murmur.

"Hibari, please tell me. Is it me? Was it my fault?" Ryohei felt the prefect shake his head again, and he couldn't help but feel despair. If the problem was Hibari, then there was nothing he could do about it.

_Is it…? Are you scared, Hibari? Are you scared of what will happen?_

Ryohei felt Hibari move a little, his arms rising. He tensed a little, waiting for the familiar feeling of a tonfa against his head. Instead, he felt the arms move behind him. Ryohei held his breath, hoping desperately that he would wrap his arms around the boxer. He felt Hibari's hands hover above his back, trying to decide whether or not to return the embrace.

Ryohei felt the body in his arms tense up as Hibari let his hands drop to his side. Everything inside him shattered.

"Go. Ry… Sasagawa, go." Hibari muttered, standing still as Ryohei let go of the skylark. Sparing one final look, he turned around, heading for the door, leaving Hibari alone in the dark room.

Sliding the door closed, a tear slid down his cheek in unison with the silent cry from the reception room of Namimori Middle School.

**End**


	2. Solutions without Problems

Solutions without Problems

It did matter, in the end.

No matter what, regardless of anything anyone said or thought, it mattered to him.

Even if it didn't matter to Hibari anymore.

A month had seemed like a decade and, he had noticed, the pain was slowly fading away. Very, very slowly, but it was disappearing.

Ryohei was certain that Hibari had forgotten it already.

In the background, behind the scenes, he had watched the prefect, silently making sure he was alright.

Even if Hibari never wanted to see him again, Ryohei couldn't help but worry about his wellbeing.

At first, he hadn't seen him for days, as the prefect had taken to staying in the reception room. When he had spotted him about a week after their last encounter, Ryohei was more than relieved to see that Hibari was looking a little less dead.

Although, that could have been the dark lighting in the room at the time.

As the days turned to weeks, Ryohei watched Hibari return to his usual stoic, cold self, biting people to death and enforcing the rules. Ryohei was happy about this, but he couldn't help but feel that, if he had stayed that way a little longer, Hibari would have come back to him. But it was pointless to think that now. There was no way they were getting back together, no way at all.

After another day or two, Ryohei decided that it was time to let go. He stopped looking after Hibari from afar and focused on forgetting how much he loved him. For now, he will concentrate on his boxing and looking after his sister and being extreme. That's what he'll do now. Everything will go back to normal, just like how it was before.

Although, Kyoko does notice that, lately, her brother seems a little more distant than before.

Walking away from a group of disciplined herbivores, stashing away his tonfas in the process, Hibari resumed his patrol of Namimori Middle School. It was getting late and after school activities were over, yet there were still little herds of people idly standing about. Hibari had dispatched most of them, and by the looks of things, the rest had gone, leaving only him, Hibird and Kusakabe, who was in another part of the building, no doubt patrolling as well.

The silence that the school provided was inviting, comforting even. After the recent disturbance in Hibari's life, because it was a distraction and nothing more, he had come to appreciate any form of isolation that he could get. He wasn't hiding from anything. Hiding was for herbivores and he was not one of those. As if to prove that point, he had left the reception room after days of not hiding and bit the first group of people he saw to death. The room was also starting to get stuffy and sitting around in the darkness wouldn't help his eyesight.

Slowly, his schedule returned to normal. He started eating properly, sleeping on the school roof, attending class every now and then, just like before. Kusakabe was pleased, and relieved, to see that Hibari had returned to normal instead of doing things for the simple sake of it.

Besides, Hibari knew that he wouldn't have lasted much longer if he stayed like that. He couldn't go back to Ryohei. It was too late for that.

Right now, Hibari resumed patrolling; now standing outside the building. He had heard some noise as he walked past and was going to investigate. As he grew closer, the sounds of a pack of herbivores talking and laughing grew louder.

_So the school's not completely empty…_ The prefect thought to himself as he grabbed his tonfas, turning the corner and coming face to face with a few of the boxing club members. They froze on the spot, expressions similar to a pack of deer caught in headlights.

"H-Hibari-san!" One very brave, or very stupid, member spoke out. "We're sorry! We were just leaving!"

Hibari did a quick head count. About six or seven people were here. No silver haired boxer to be seen.

"We didn't mean to stay behind so late! Sasagawa-senpai wasn't here today and-" Another herbivore quickly shut the second one up as Hibari tightened his grip on his tonfas.

"… Hurry up. Don't be late again." The prefect told the group before walking away, leaving them with bewildered expressions.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, Hibari couldn't say that nothing's changed. Kusakabe had noticed that, ever since the 'incident' happened, Hibari left the boxing club alone.

Whether it was so he could avoid Ryohei as much as possible or because he didn't want to upset him was something that neither of them knew.

It had been with a certain amount of malicious glee that he got to his feet, watching from the school roof as Hibari left the grounds, most likely heading home. He had witnessed the scene involving the boxing club and his little skylark, the corners of his mouth twitching upward. Despite his rather rapid recovery, it seemed that the prefect was still suffering a little.

He had known about the relationship between Hibari and the boxing guardian for quite some time. If he was honest, it aggravated him. That man had no right to take what belonged to him. Ever since he met the skylark, brought him to his knees and proved who was superior, he was enthralled. No matter what it took, he would capture that little bird and lock him away from anyone else.

Right now, Hibari hated him, but he always loved a challenge.

He had been thinking about how to get his little skylark to fall for him. Originally, he had planned to kill Sasagawa and, while the prefect was in a depressive state, he would steal him away and make it all better. However, thanks to the new predicament, it seemed that no blood needed to be spilled. At least, no more than necessary.

He would have liked to have captured Hibari by now, when he was in the early stages of the break up and was more vulnerable than ever. However, he couldn't make a move thanks to Sasagawa constantly being nearby. Even though he knew he could handle the empty headed boxer, he didn't want the whole plan to backfire and turn against him. That wouldn't have gone well at all and he would be even further from capturing the skylark. He wouldn't want that.

With a little nod, he got to his feet, looking around the roof. This was his skylark's sacred place and he loved to dirty it with his presence. That would be fun, taking his little Hibari right here, in the place he loved so much. How would he react? Would he fight back a little more? He could only guess.

"Kufufu…" He laughed to himself, slowly disappearing into the mist.

The ball had started rolling, and Mukuro would get his little skylark very, very soon.

"Sasagawa Ryohei, report to the reception room immediately." was what the silver haired boxer had been told. Despite the fact that he had to go there right away, it had taken him half an hour to reach the corridor that gave way to the dreaded room. It wasn't because he had accidently adopted a snail-like walk or because he had taken the long way. He just didn't particularly want to see the head prefect. That's all.

Unfortunately for him, Ryohei now stood in front of the door that led to the reception room. His stomach clenched with nerves, he hesitantly lifted his hand, knocking on the door. While he waited, the boxer couldn't help but shake off the feeling of déjà vu.

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. Whatever Hibari wanted couldn't have been that important, right?

Before Ryohei could extremely run away, the door slid open, Kusakabe appearing. Looking down at Ryohei, he just nodded a little, moving aside so he could enter the room.

"Sasagawa, you're late." He told the boxer, closing the door behind him.

"I only just got the message, to the extreme." Ryohei muttered. The two had a pretty strained relationship. Ever since Kusakabe accidently walked in while he and Hibari were in the middle of a pretty heated make out session, the two weren't exactly on good terms. Now that the relationship was over, Ryohei was pretty certain that things weren't going to get better.

Looking around, the boxer noticed that Hibari was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Hibari?"

"You don't know?" Kusakabe asked, a flash of concern crossing his face.

"Should I, to the extreme?"

"Kyo-san has been gone for a week. I was wondering if you knew anything about it." Kusakabe explained, folding his arms as he frowned.

"Hibari is missing?" Ryohei asked, his stomach clenching as thoughts began filling his head. What did that mean? Hibari didn't just disappear. Sure, he wandered off occasionally, but he always came back.

"I wouldn't say missing, but he hasn't been at school for the past few days." Kusakabe answered.

"… You don't think… maybe…" _But he wouldn't! He was doing alright! He wouldn't resort to that, would he?_

"I don't think so. We both know Kyo-san would never kill himself." Ryohei breathed a sigh of relief, trying to calm down.

"Then, we need to find him! He could be in extreme trouble!" The boxer declared, clenching his fists.

"No." Kusakabe interrupted. "Kyo-san is probably fine. I was just asking if you knew where he was. That's all."

"But-"

"You can go, Sasagawa." Kusakabe dismissed him, turning to face the rest of the room.

"But Hibari could be in trouble!" Ryohei protested.

"Go back to class. Now." A few seconds of silence passed, before Ryohei, frowning a little at Kusakabe, walked out of the room, closing the door a little too loudly. He stood in the corridor afterwards, deciding that it was probably too late to go back to class. He didn't really feel like it anyway.

Going over what Kusakabe had said, he took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

It'll be alright. It's Hibari. Everything was fine.

Everything was not fine. Not fine at all. In fact, it was bad. Very bad. Very, very, very bad.

And wrong. So horribly wrong.

"What's the matter, Hibari-kun?"

He kept his eyes shut, some part of him still spiritlessly hoping that it was all just a bad dream, that he would wake up in the reception room and forget about this whole thing. How many times had he told himself that this wasn't real? Everything was real. The pain, the touches, the blood. It was all too real.

"Kufufu… Open your eyes, Hibari-kun. I want you to look at me." At the sound of the voice, the prefect only squeezed his eyes tighter, refusing. A small tutting noise could be heard before the hands returned, a finger pressing into one of the wounds on his shoulder. Hibari grit his teeth, only letting out a small grunt of pain as he felt blood start to flow down his back again.

"Hibari-kun, open your eyes." A few seconds of silence passed, before the finger dug deeper into the injury. Hibari couldn't help but cry out as pain shot through his nerves, his eyes snapping open to glare at the damned illusionist.

"Kufufu, good boy." Mukuro taunted, smirking wider at the broken and bleeding skylark on the ground. He withdrew his hand from the wound, not missing the silent sigh of relief, before locking at the blood, all the while keeping eye contact with Hibari. His little skylark frowned a little in disgust, trying to move away from him.

"Now now, Hibari-kun." Mukuro smirked, grabbing a handful of black hair and dragging him forward. "Where do you think you're going?"

Just like before, Hibari remained silent, not giving Mukuro the satisfaction of being answered.

"Hm? You don't want to talk? But you were so loud before." Mukuro smirked as Hibari narrowed his eyes a little. "Are you tired? Don't worry; I'll be gentler next time."

Hibari grit his teeth in anger, spitting in Mukuro's face. The smirk slowly disappeared off the illusionist's face, setting into a disapproving look. He tightened his grip on Hibari's hair, making the skylark flinch before slamming his head to the ground, the impact echoing around the dark room.

"That wasn't very nice, Hibari-kun." Mukuro warned as Hibari's vision started to swim. "You know what happens when you disobey me. You belong to me, so you will do as I say."

Breathing hard and coughing a little, Hibari couldn't think of anything he wanted to do more than kill the fucking illusionist in the head. But now, he could only glare up at him through his sweat soaked bangs.

"Hm, or maybe I'll have to remind you what happens when you disobey me."

Hibari's eyes widened a little as he tried to move away again. Mukuro smirked demonically, pinning his little skylark down. He tried to get out of his grasp, but the illusionist simply slammed his head against the ground again.

Hibari's vision slowly started to fade, his consciousness slipping away into his mind.

"Kufufu. Now now, Hibari-kun. Don't fall asleep." Mukuro laughed. "I want you to sing for me, little skylark. Like you did before."

Hibari couldn't remember anything more.

It had been two days since Ryohei's meeting with Kusakabe and, no matter what he told himself, he couldn't stop worrying about Hibari. He had been keeping an eye out for the prefect on the off chance that he would spot him. He had tried to approach Kusakabe to ask if he knew any more information, but the look he got always answered his question.

School had just ended and, like yesterday, he didn't really feel like going to boxing club. Even though boxing usually cleared his extreme head, recently it just wasn't working. He suspected that it had something to do with just how much was on his mind.

Looking up at the sky, Ryohei sighed as he closed his eyes, letting the sunlight warm his face. Despite what was going on, everything around him was peaceful. It was quiet, with only the wind gently coaxing the leaves into movement and the soft tweeting of birds. And, if Ryohei listened closely, he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name.

"Ryohei! Ryohei!"

… Wait a minute.

Opening his eyes, Ryohei looked around for the source of the voice, finding a little ball of yellow feathers flying towards him.

"Hibird?" The boxer called out, extending his hand for the little bird to land on. It looked up at Ryohei in a slightly flustered state, flapping it's wings about. "Shouldn't you be with Hibari?"

"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird chirped. Ryohei looked around, expecting to see the prefect appear at any moment.

_If Hibird's here, then Hibari can't be extremely far off._ Ryohei thought, breathing a small sigh of relief. He was glad to hear that the prefect wasn't in any danger.

"Hey, Hibird, where's Hibari?" Ryohei asked, watching as the little bird flew from his hand, landing on top of his head. Grabbing a beakful of hair, it began yanking the strands, making Ryohei yell out. "Hey! What was that for, to the extreme?" He reached up to grab the bird, who quickly evaded his hand and flew in front of him again.

"Hibari! Hibari!" Hibird began chirping again, it's shrill voice becoming higher and, seemingly, more frantic.

"What's the matter? Where's Hibari?" Ryohei asked. If there was a problem, it would be better if he talked to the prefect about it. Hibird had a limited vocabulary, after all, and talking to it would only get the boxer so far.

"Hibari!" Hibari chirped again, flying off down the streets before turning back to look at Ryohei. Seeing that he wasn't following, the little bird hurried back, grabbing his hair and yanking it again.

"Ow! Stop extremely doing that!" Ryohei exclaimed, rubbing his head as he glared at the bird who had quickly flown off again.

_Does he want me to follow?_ Ryohei wondered, readjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder as he followed. Seeing the boxer tagging along, Hibird chirped before hurrying along, leading Ryohei down several streets and past numerous buildings. With every step, the boxer could feel the anxiety return, a little at a time. Where was Hibari? Surely he would have turned up by now. And where was Hibird taking him? They couldn't possibly be going to where Hibari was. Unless… Was Hibari in trouble?

A tweet brought Ryohei out of his thoughts, making him look up. Hibird was hovering around in the air, looking at him. He glanced around, taking in their surroundings. No longer were they surrounded by buildings, or on the street for that matter. Was Ryohei that absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice where he was going? Taking in the peaceful atmosphere that the trees gave, he realised, biting his bottom lip to stop himself cursing, that this was the place he and Hibari visited. It was a short distance from the park, but hardly anyone came here. It was secluded, which always made the prefect relax. Ryohei liked that, seeing Hibari all calm and relaxed around him. It was one of the reasons why he extremely kept bringing the other here. Why this became their place.

Ryohei sighed quietly, gently touching one of the trees. He remembered once suggesting etching their names into the bark. Hibari had scolded him for even thinking about vandalising Namimori property. Ryohei had sat down at the base of the tree, laughing a little. Hibari was looking at the trunk thoughtfully before he sat next to him. When the boxer had woken up, as he had somehow fallen asleep, Hibari had told him it was time to go. As they left, Ryohei noticed someone had written their names in pen on the bark. He hadn't said anything about it, but looking back now, maybe he should have.

A sharp chirp brought Ryohei out of his reminiscing, making him turn around to face Hibird. He was hopping about on the ground, looking up at the boxer before turning away.

Speaking of Hibird, where was Hibari? All of the anxiety he had collected came flooding back, making him look around. Was Hibari here? Did he want to talk to him? Here?

"Hibird, is-?" Ryohei started to ask, before he noticed the little bird tugging something on the ground.

_It's probably an extreme worm…_ Ryohei thought, going over to kneel beside the ball of feathers. Hibird let go of the thing on the ground, flapping it's wings so he could fly up to Ryohei's shoulder, disturbing some of the pink petals scattered about. He looked down at the object, frowning a little as he reached down to pick it up. He scratched at the dirt before his grip became impossibly tight, his eyes wide with horror.

_Oh God no… No…_

Before he knew it, Ryohei was running down the street, Hibird clinging onto his shoulder as he rushed back to school, both of them fearing for the same person.

"_Hibari-kun, look at me."_

_I bit my lip, determined not to make a sound._

"_Come on, Hibari-kun. I want to hear your voice. Or am I being too gentle?"_

"… _Nngh!"_

"_Kufufu, that's better, but you're not as loud as you were last time."_

"_B-Bastard…"_

"_That's not very nice, Hibari-kun."_

_A hand grabbed my hair, yanked my head up to look into the two toned eyes._

"_I thought I told you to look at me."_

"_Mmph!"_

_More pain. More sounds trying to make their way out of my throat._

"_Let your voice out. I want to hear you."_

_Biting again. More blood. There's been so much blood. None of it his._

"_A-ahh…"_

"_Kufufu..."_

_Make it stop…_

"_Call my name, Hibari-kun."_

"_No-Ah!"_

"_Say it. Scream it."_

_I can't… anymore…_

"_Mukuro!"_

_Ryohei… help…_

"What do you mean Kyo-san's in trouble?" Kusakabe asked, looking at the dishevelled person in front of him.

"Exactly that, to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted, his hand clutching the filthy object.

"Are you sure? How do you know?" Kusakabe questioned, starting to frown.

Ryohei looked up at him, before raising his hand, showing him what he was holding. Underneath the dried dirt and what might have been blood, the red fabric and gold thread could just be seen.

"This is…"

"Yeah." Ryohei nodded, his grip on Hibari's prefect badge tightening. There was no way he would leave the armband in the dirt, no way at all. If he had been in a fight and it had fallen off, he would have picked it up straight away. Unless the unthinkable happened. Unless he lost.

"Where did you find it?" Kusakabe asked, having come to the same conclusion as Ryohei.

"Near the park, next to some trees." He answered. He didn't want Kusakabe to go to their special place, but Hibari was in trouble. This wasn't the time to be worrying about such things.

"Okay. I'll need to send someone there. Was there anything else there?" Kusakabe asked.

"Uh… I don't think so…" Ryohei answered, trying to remember. Apart from the badge, there wasn't anything apart from some random stones, scattered pink petals and leaves.

_Wait a minute…_ Ryohei paused, going over the list again. _Why were there pink petals, to the extreme? There aren't any sakura trees around there._ Hibari had made sure that the trees weren't cherry blossoms before deciding to keep going to that place. Once, Ryohei had asked him why he hated the flowers so much. Hibari briefly mentioned that he didn't feel well whenever they were near, for a variety of reasons. Ryohei had got to see this first hand when it was hanami season. But the panic he felt then was nothing compared to now.

"But why were there sakura petals there?" He wondered out loud, trying to think.

"'Sakura petals'?" Kusakabe repeated, turning to look at Ryohei.

"Yeah, there had been some extreme sakura petals scattered around the place." He explained.

"… Maybe… No, it couldn't be…" The second in command muttered to himself, turning around.

"What? What couldn't it extremely be?" Ryohei asked, taking a step closer.

"Do you remember that incident with the students from Kokuyo Middle School?" Ryohei nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. That was the only time he had seen Hibari badly hurt. "Kyo-san told me a little of what happened. He mentioned an illusionist who used sakura to attack him."

"Sakura? But, that could be the same guy!" Ryohei exclaimed, Hibird chirping in agreement. "We should extremely go there now and-"

"Hang on, we don't know for sure yet." Kusakabe interrupted, turning back to Ryohei. "It might not be him-"

"But it is! I'm sure of it!" He protested. There was hardly anyone in Namimori would could beat Hibari in a fight. The only ones who gave him a decent battle were that strange, Italian stalker, the kid who was always with Sawada and that illusionist he talked about occasionally. While he wouldn't put it past that blonde haired creep to kidnap Hibari, he doubted he was even in the country. And the kid wouldn't hurt Hibari on purpose, so it had to be…

"We can't just go making assumptions." Kusakabe told him, turning to some of the other members of the disciplinary committee.

"It's not an assumption! I know, to the extreme! It's got to be him!" Ryohei exclaimed, clenching his fists.

"Sasagawa, I'd appreciate your help in finding Kyo-san, but if you're just going to be a problem, then leave." Kusakabe ordered, fixing Ryohei with a strong glare. Ryohei scowled back, gritting his teeth as he turned around and left the reception room, running down the corridors and out of the school with Hibird still perched on his shoulder and the sash in his hand.

He didn't care what people said anymore. Ryohei was going to get his Hibari back. For good.

It was with slightly laboured breath that Ryohei now stood in Kokuyo Land, in front of a huge building. He had heard what happened here from Sawada and the others, so he could roughly guess where he was going. If he was right to the extreme, the illusionist guy should be in this building. And, wherever he was, Hibari wouldn't be far behind. Clenching his fists, he walked up to the building, pushing open the door. Ryohei could hear the glass under his feet cracking as he began searching, keeping an eye out for anything, or anyone, suspicious. The eerie silence soon became deafening as he looked through the different rooms, becoming more and more worried with each step. He so badly wanted to call out to Hibari, but he knew that would extremely alert anyone else to his presence. Not that he would have minded that. Ryohei would happily fight whoever had the nerve to hurt his Hibari, but right now, his priority was finding the prefect and getting him to safety.

"Ryohei!" Hibird suddenly chirped, flying off his shoulder and heading down the corridor, prompting him to follow. They reached a door, which seemed far more ominous than the others. Hibird perched back onto his shoulder, huddling close to him. Ryohei nervously chewed the inside of his cheek, before grabbing the door handle, taking a deep breath and pushing it open.

The room was dark when he walked in. The ripped curtains were drawn, letting in small, dirty streams of light. There was a small amount of glass in this room, as well as a vast amount of dust. But, it wasn't these things that caught his eye. What captured his attention was what was huddle by the wall. Or, rather, who.

"Hibari…" Ryohei breathed, rushing over to the disorganised heap on the floor. He was facing the wall, his back to the rest of the room. On closer inspection, Ryohei would see the severe amount of injuries on the small body, which accounted for the several stains of blood on his clothes and the floor. His hair was tousled and stuck together in some places, and his breath was weak, like he didn't have the strength to live anymore.

"Hibari!" Ryohei called out, gently touching the delicate person in front of him. Slowly he turned Hibari over, hands shaking. He looked into the half closed eyes, dull and cold. Dead.

"Hibari! Hibari, it's me, Ryohei! I've come to save you!" He called, only just resisting the urge to shake the still body in front of him.

"… Ryo… hei?" A voice quietly croaked out of the person in his arms, a pale hand gingerly trying to reach up. Ryohei softly took the hand, squeezing it a little when he saw the eyes widen. "You're… real?"

"Of course I am, to the extreme." Ryohei whispered, feeling a lump form in his throat. "Don't worry, Hibari. I'm going to get you out of here."

"Ryohei…" Hibari whispered, before he started coughing, wincing as pain shot through his body. Ryohei carefully sat him up, noticing just how hurt he was.

"I'll extremely bandage you up when we get out of here, okay?" Ryohei told him, too busy watching Hibari to notice Hibird fly off his shoulder, disappearing into the darkness. He wrapped his arms around Hibari, giving him a hug before getting ready to carry him.

"… Ryohei?"

"Yeah?" The boxer answered, looking down at the small form in his arms.

"Why are you here?"

"Huh? I'm here to extremely save you!" Ryohei answered, frowning a little at Hibari. "Why else would I be here?"

"… I don't need you here."

"What? What're you-"

"I don't need you anymore."

Ryohei looked away from Hibari's eyes, watching the prefect's hand let go of the silver trident trapped in his abdomen, red blood seeping out to stain his shirt.

"W-Wha-" Ryohei tried to say, before he was being forced to cough, some of the red liquid crawling up his throat.

"I don't want you anymore, Ryohei." Hibari spoke out, reaching up to push him away, making him fall to the floor.

"Hi-Hibari…" Ryohei choked out, his hand wrapping around the weapon, yanking it out with a yell. His vision swam as he looked up at Hibari, into his two toned eyes.

… _Two… toned…?_ Through his clouding vision, Ryohei could just make out Hibari's right eye was a different colour. It was red. Eerie red.

Ryohei grit his teeth, struggling to push himself to his knees as he coughed out, "What have you done to Hibari?"

"Kufufu… Was I found out?" A voice rang through the room, making Ryohei turn his head to try and see him.

From seemingly nowhere, mist floated into the room, a dark figure emerging from the middle. Ryohei forced himself to move in front of Hibari, a hand pressing against his wound.

"My little Hibari-kun has a point though, Sasagawa." Mukuro smirked, looking at the silent figure behind the boxer. "He doesn't want you anymore. Not after he has given himself to me."

"What… have you done to him?" Ryohei rasped out.

"Kufufu… Do you want to guess?" Mukuro laughed, watching Ryohei's reaction. "He screamed so much and called my name so many times. It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it."

"Y-You what?" Ryohei's eyes widened with horror, looking back at Hibari, whose eyes were turned down to the floor.

"Oya? So, you two hadn't?" Mukuro asked, his smirk widening. "So it really was his first time. I thought so, the way he seemed so scared. But I think we fixed that, didn't we Hibari-kun?"

"You… I'll make you pay for what you did!" Ryohei shouted, groggily getting to his feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sasagawa." Mukuro laughed. "You've already lost so much blood. Besides, what are you fighting for?"

"What?" Ryohei asked, clenching his fists as he looked uncertainly at him.

"Even if you do take my Hibari-kun away, he still won't love you. Things will just go back to how they were before." Mukuro explained, enjoying the silent doubt on Ryohei's face. "He'll never want you again, even if you do take him away."

"… I don't care." Ryohei muttered, looking down at the ground."

"What?"

"I don't care! I don't care if Hibari hates me forever and we'll never talk to each other again!" Ryohei shouted, clenching his fists. "I don't care if Hibari never wants to see me again and goes off and finds someone else! In fact, I want him to never have anything to do with me after this! I want him to find someone that'll do what I couldn't do! Make him happy! That will extremely be enough for me! If Hibari can be happy… That's enough for me."

Mukuro was silent, listening to what Ryohei said. His smirk had gone; his expression neutral.

"… So, even though you love him, you'll still let him go?" He asked. Ryohei nodded, feeling himself grow weaker and lightheaded.

"… Kufufu, good things I'm making him happy then." Mukuro smirked widely; revelling in the look of furious anger that flashed across Ryohei's paling face.

"I won't let you touch him." Ryohei told him, trying to clear his head enough to be able to fight.

"Ryohei…" A quiet voice behind the boxer made him turn. Hibari was looking up at Ryohei, a pale, blood stained hand softly clinging to his leg and dark eyes looking up at him.

"H-Hibari?" Ryohei murmured, his expressions softening.

"Ryohei… You mean that?" Hibari asked; his throat hoarse.

"Yeah… I did…" He answered, his consciousness starting to waver.

"Now now, Hibari-kun." Mukuro called out, his eyes fixed on the prefect. "Stay out of this."

"Hibari…" Ryohei whispered, ignoring Mukuro as he felt his knees buckle, falling to the floor.

"Ryohei!" Hibari's voice sounded so far away to the boxer. He could faintly feel arms around him, warmth slowly filtering through his body.

"Hibari-kun, leave him." Mukuro ordered, taking a step towards the two.

"Hibari…" Ryohei whispered, his vision clouding over as he tried to focus on the person holding him. "Don't worry… I'll always be there for you…"

"Ryohei…" Hibari whispered, grabbing a handful of his shirt. "Don't die, Ryohei! Don't die!"

"Hibari… I love you." Ryohei breathed, before his vision went black.

"Ryohei! Ryohei!" Hibari desperately called, trying to shake him awake. He hissed as a hand grabbed his hair, yanking him away.

"Hibari-kun, I told you to leave him." Mukuro growled into the prefect's ear, slamming him down onto the ground. He wrapped his hand around his throat, pinning him in place. "Or do I have to teach you another lesson?"

Hibari glared up at Mukuro, just about managing to struggle against him. "I'll kill you for what you did to him." Mukuro frowned at the person beneath him, tightening his grip around the other's throat.

"Stop thinking about him." He ordered, staring as Hibari frantically tried to breathe, attempting to pry the illusionist's hands away. "You're mine, not his. You belong to me!"

Hibari coughed violently, trying to kick Mukuro away as his chest grew tighter, his vision growing dark.

"You need to be punished. Maybe I should take you here, next to him." Mukuro mused darkly, watching Hibari's eyes widen. "That'll teach you, won't it? You'll learn to listen to me then."

Hibari gasped silently, his lungs screaming as his struggles grew less, his body slowly turning numb.

"Sleeping again? That doesn't matter. I'll still punish you." Mukuro's voice seemed so far away as Hibari's consciousness began to slip. He was vaguely aware of hands touching him, letting go of his throat to explore lower. Hibari tried to move, away from this person, closer so he could hurt him, anything. But his limbs wouldn't listen, forcing him to close his eyes and sink into a dark dream.

The hands stopped for a moment, the sound of slight movement only just registering. He heard Mukuro curse, the hands disappearing as the illusionist stood up.

"It looks like someone's here to pick you up, Hibari-kun." He told the prefect, looking down at him as the voices started to get closer. "But don't worry. I'll come back for you. Just be patient. Kufufu…"

Everything beyond that was an unorganised blur. There were just shouts of his name and people rushing around to help the two people on the ground.

Hibari didn't care about that though. His thoughts were only on the one lying next to him.

_Ryohei…_

Hibari clenched and unclenched his fists, absentmindedly watching his hand in silence. It had been two weeks since he had been rescued from Kokuyo Land. According to what he had been told, Hibird had brought Kusakabe and other members of the Disciplinary Committee to where Ryohei was, apparently sensing danger nearby. They had been bandaged up as best as they could before being rushed to hospital. Ryohei was taken to intensive care immediately, while other doctors worked quickly on disinfecting and bandaging Hibari up. He woke up about a day later, unable to move and not caring at all. Hibari had refused to tell anyone about what happened there, although Kusakabe had been looking worriedly at him from time to time that made the prefect suspect that he knew a little. Hibari frowned to himself, letting his hand drop down to rest on the couch beside him. He closed his eyes, tapping his foot impatiently. He badly wanted to go up to the roof and not be in this enclosed space any longer. He had really come to despise the reception room lately. But, right now, he had something to do.

A quiet knock from the door disturbed Hibari from his thoughts, making him turn his head. "Come in."

The door opened with a slight creak, as Ryohei slowly walked in, looking at the ground. Hibari couldn't tell who looked worse, as both were physically and mentally drained from the recent ordeals.

"You wanted to see me?" Ryohei muttered, keeping his eyes to the ground.

"Yes." Hibari nodded, getting to his feet. "I wanted to ask if you have told anyone about what happened."

"No, I extremely haven't." Ryohei answered briefly.

"Good. I do not want you to tell anyone. This needs to stay between you and me." Hibari told Ryohei, nodding a little.

"Yeah, I know, to the extreme." Ryohei muttered, raising his eyes to look at the wall. "If that's everything…"

Hibari watched Ryohei turn around, walking away from him. He clenched his fists, chewing the inside of his cheek as he tried to say something.

"… Wait." He muttered quietly, his eyes now looking at the floor. The footsteps stopped and an awkward silence filled the room. What would he say now? That he was sorry for what he had done and the trouble he had caused? Or maybe that he didn't want to see him again? Or that it was all a huge mistake and he wanted him back, right now?

"Ryohei, I-" Hibari started to say before he was suddenly being held, warm arms wrapped around him tightly.

"Just… Just give me a minute, Hibari… I just need to do this, just once." Ryohei whispered, his arms tightening around the small body. He knew he shouldn't be doing this. He just needs to let go. Just let go.

Hibari closed his eyes, breathing in Ryohei's scent. He couldn't shake the sense of déjà vu as he raised his arms, his hands hovering above his back again. Ryohei held his breath and closed his eyes as well.

"You don't have to, Hibari. If you want to extremely go, then don't." He whispered, feeling the small body in his arms still. Sighing silently, Ryohei let his arms drop, turning away.

_It's better this way._ He thought before a hand reached out, grabbing his shoulder and turning him back round, arms trapping him into place.

"H-Hibari?" Ryohei whispered, looking down at him.

"… Don't go." The prefect murmured, keeping his head buried in Ryohei's shirt. "Don't leave. I don't want you to leave…"

"Hibari?" Ryohei whispered again, gently raising the prefect's face to look at him.

"I… I was wrong… to leave you…" Hibari murmured, looking off to the side as his head was raised. "I didn't know what to do… I've never been with anyone like this before and everything was just so different to what I know…"

"Hibari… You were scared?" Ryohei asked quietly, watching him carefully. He bit his lip a little as the other didn't say anything, instead looking at the floor. "Hibari… You should have told me, to the extreme."

Hibari shook his head, looking up at Ryohei. "I don't care about that anymore. I was stupid to have left you and… and…"

"Yeah. Extremely yeah." Ryohei answered the unspoken question.

"But… I haven't-" Hibari started to say before Ryohei interrupted.

"You don't need to." Ryohei grinned a little, gently capturing his lips in a soft kiss. Hibari looked at him for a moment, before grabbing a handful of his shirt, pulling him into a deeper kiss. Ryohei happily complied, wrapping his arms around the smaller form as he reacquaintanced himself with the one he had been so long without.

They broke apart soon after, Hibari resting his head on Ryohei's shoulder while the other played with his hair. Hearing him yawn a little, the boxer glanced down at the prefect.

"Tired?" He asked quietly as the other nodded a little. "Come on, then." He said, guiding him over to the couch, where they both sat down. Hibari instantly nestled close, resting his head back on Ryohei's shoulder.

"Be here when I wake up." He murmured, closing his eyes. Ryohei chuckled a little, wrapping his arms around him as he fell asleep.

"Of course." He whispered, gently pecking the top of his head. "I'll always be here. And I extremely won't let you go ever again."

"I love you, Hibari." He whispered, looking down at the sleeping figure in his arms. They tightened around him as he smirked a little. "And you love me too."

_Kufufu… Because you are mine._

End


End file.
